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75 Years Since WWII: Reflections for European Jewry

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Arsen Ostrovsky
Arsen Ostrovsky is the Executive Director of The Israeli-Jewish Congress (IJC), as well as an international human rights lawyer, national
… [More]security and foreign policy analyst. He writes for a number of major publications and speaks regularly on topics related to: Arab-Israeli conflict, Antisemitism, Middle East Foreign Policy and National Security, International Human Rights, Israeli – European relations and various issues relating to the Jewish community and public diplomacy.
(Unless explicitly stated, all articles are written in his personal capacity) [Less]

Almost unnoticed, today marks the 75th Anniversary of the commencement of World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, formally unleashing the darkest chapter in European history. However, insofar as the European Jewish community in concerned, we must ask: has the situation once again come full circle, endangering Jewish life in Europe?

Today, merely 75 years after World War II commenced and 69 years after the Holocaust concluded, anti-Semitism and hatred against Jews is once again at record levels.

The difference, however, is that today’s anti-Semitism is being waged against not only Jews as individuals, but also in the vilification and assault on Israel’s legitimacy, as the Jew among the nations, with false claims and malicious distortions of truth cloaked as acceptable criticism of Zionism and Israel.

In Greece, Hungary, and even Germany of all places, we are seeing a revival of the neo-Nazi far-Right.

In France, seldom a day goes by without news of a violent anti-Semitic attack.

In Belgium are we hearing calls of “Slaughter the Jews”.

In London it’s “Hitler you were right.”

In Netherlands it’s “Jews get out.”

And in Poland, which saw about 3,000,000 Jews murdered in the Holocaust, they hold signs saying “Bring Israel flags back into the crematoria chimney.”

Meantime across Europe, we are seeing countless violent rallies against Israel in the wake of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, where they are openly supporting Hamas, a genocidal Islamic terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel and death to all Jews.

In fact, for today’s anti-Semite, the term ‘Jew’ and ‘Israeli’ are interchangeable. They are one and the same. This was demonstrated perhaps most aptly by a recent pro-Palestinian protestor in Geneva, who charged at a Synagogue, with a sign exclaiming “Every Synagogue is an Israeli Embassy.”

Many Jews across Europe are now increasingly being forced to change their way of life, hide their identities and separate from their Judaism out of fear of anti-Semitism. Some are even openly questioning: is there even a future still left for them in Europe?

George Santayana, the Spanish- American philosopher, famously said “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Regrettably, we must now ask: has Europe failed to learn from its darkest days of anti-Semitism in the last century and is now condemned to repeat those same mistakes once again.

When chants of “death to the Jews” or “Jews get out” are common, violent assaults are rising and there are increasing calls for boycotts against Israeli and now kosher products, one cannot but help compare the situation with the 1930’s.

And when Synagogues are being firebombed and Jewish owned property is being looted, how can the word ‘Kristallnacht’ not be one of the first that comes to mind?

Although the origins of the Holocaust might be different to what we are experiencing today, the symptoms and causes are identical, repeating themselves again. Albeit by different means and on a different scale, the end aim is same – the destruction of the Jewish community of Europe.

The difference however, is that unlike in 1939, in 2014 with have the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces as a guarantee against another Holocaust. The Jewish community is also stronger and more united.

Notwithstanding, the situation facing European Jewry is dire, with even further dark clouds on the horizon. Today, we have reached a point where we don’t need any more reports to say that anti-Semitism is a problem. Enough; we know that. What is needed are concrete steps to combat this oldest form of hatred.

In this regard, the following 5 action items could be considered as a basis for combatting anti-Semitism:

1. Europe must have a comprehensive definition of anti-Semitism. In this regard, it was most unfortunate to see last year the decision of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, the central European body charged with combating anti-Semitism, to remove its working definition of anti-Semitism, and inexplicably, only weeks after releasing a major report about the record level of anti-Semitism in Europe.

Importantly, the FRA definition also included calls for the delegitimization of Israel as a form of anti-Semitism. This full definition of anti-Semitism should immediately be reinstated as law in Europe. Without defining what it is we are trying to combat, how can we ever defeat it?

2. The EU must establish a Special Commissioner to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and Racism. This idea was originally proposed by leaders of the Belgian Jewish Community and in the wake of the terror attack on the Brussels Jewish Museum earlier this year. Such a move would also send a strong message that European leadership is united and committed to combating anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia.

3. European governments must also be pressed separately to monitor anti-Semitism. Despite being required to do so under accords reached between the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, many have failed to do so.

4. All EU states must outlaw Holocaust denial. Under current EU law, Holocaust denial is punishable by a jail sentence of up to three years, but EU countries that do not have such a prohibition in their own domestic legislation are not bound to enforce the EU law.

At present, only 13 of the 28 EU member states have laws specifically criminalizing Holocaust denial. This anomaly in unacceptable.

Legislation must be enacted and enforced across each country in the EU, outlawing racist hate speech, use of Nazi symbols, and specifically, the denial of the Holocaust.

5. And last but certainly not least: education, education, education. People are not born to hate; they learn it. All EU member states should make study of racism, and specifically the Holocaust and its implications mandatory in all high schools.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in November last yeast, anti-Semitism is “a crime against Europe and its culture, against man and its humanity. To be anti-Semitic is to reject Europe.” Therefore, anti-Semitism must not be seen solely a “Jewish problem,” but a human problem, and in particular, one going against the very culture and ethos of Europe.

It is high time the international community stopped just talking about anti-Semitism and started taking concrete steps to fight this oldest and most enduring form of hatred.

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